Recent Projects

In 1999, Dan Torop dreamt that he was drifting over the Bowery at sunset. The street was covered by a red fog laced with yellow-orange fumes. Cars wove heedlessly between lanes yet never collided. He spun and circled through the air above, watching the silent passage below. When he awoke on the couch in his studio, a few streets east of the Bowery, he resolved to replicate the vision. His vision culminated in a computer program which simulated the Bowery circa 1997.

Gearbox is the outcome of twelve-months development work between the MediaShed and Eyebeam, to create a resource for low-budget filmmaking. Comprised of “how to” step by step examples, Gearbox shows people innovative ways of recording footage using unusual combinations of found resources (such as CCTV Video Sniffin' or Spy Kiting) and low-budget methods of reproducing professional film making techniques (for example, achieving a crane shot using a fishing pole). This one-stop shop for all your moving image needs places a potent means of expression in the hands of people irrespective of money, status or environment. Building on the core aims of “free-media”, it offers new ways of thinking about and using technology and media available within the environment, of recycling and re-using outdated and junked equipment, and of adapting cheap materials from local DIY and electronic stores.

It encourages people to further develop means of expression, equipment and ideas by uploading their work for comment and sharing. Gearbox invites people and other organisations to become involved with the development of the Gearbox website by developing new film projects and up-loading their own content. This will put filmmaking tools into the hands of more individuals who may have wholly different approaches to using them, creating a sharable, reusable and expandable resource.

The MediaShed is the first “free-media” space to open in the East of England and is located at the mouth of the Thames. It's a place for doing art, making things or just saying what you want for little or no financial cost by using the public domain, free and open source software, recycled equipment and enthusiasm. It's also a place to say what you want “freely”, using accessible media systems that can be taken apart and reused without unnecessary restrictions and controls. The MediaShed was founded by members of Mongrel, an internationally recognized digital arts organization.

The Revolution Door is a modified revolving door comprised of three parts - a redesigned central core replacing that of any existing or new revolving door, a mechanical/electrical system that harnesses human energy and redistributes electricity to an output, and an output device that maps the harnessed energy. By mechanically harvesting a negligible amount of human energy and converting it to a tangible display through the use of a generator, the Revolution Door will directly communicate a single person's contribution to an energy cycle possible through the metabolic relationship between people, technology, and architecture.

Any conversation about the environment inevitably comes to the automobile.Automobiles are essential to the lives of most New York City residents, but with these benefits come serious consequences: polluted air, dangerous roads, noise and congestion.

The connection between the automobile, life and air in NewYork City is explored through Cloud Car, a car fitted with special effects equipment that produces a cloud of mist, enveloping car and rider. As a public artwork, Cloud Car focuses attention on air and the automobile with a cloud of mist.Air is made tangible and visible.

At designated times, in-person guides will be stationed near the car, distributing fact sheets related to air quality issues and encouraging passers-by to discuss the environment, automobiles and traffic in the city.Visitors will be invited to sit in the car accompanied by a guide and listen to sound compositions related to the environment on the car stereo. The car becomes as a semi-private space of contemplation and exchange.

Scheduled dates and locations:

September 19th - Park(ing) day test drive, 21st street and 43rd Avenue, Long Island City Queens

October 18th, 12-6PM - Eyebeam Block Party, Chelsea in conjunction with The Ear to the Earth Festival

November 1st, 10AM-3PM - The New York Hall of Science, Queens in conjunction with The Ear to the Earth Festival

By Andrea Polli and Chuck Varga.

This project is made possible (in part) with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by the Queens Council on the Arts

The Co-op Bar offers a low-level investment and community space in the form of a co-operatively owned bar. Investors contribute bottles of liquor and receive a return on their investment and a discount at the bar. As an artist or supporter of the arts, when you buy a drink at the Co-op Bar you are putting money back into the local arts community. A percentage of the profits from the bar go toward supporting mini-grants given directly to artists, the production of artist publications, and other services.

As of 2007, The Co-op Bar was able to raise roughly $2000 in mini-grants for artists.

For the connection between hands and digital data, a software/hardware-based modular user interface was created. The interactive surface senses touch, multiple contact points, allowing for multi-finger dual-hand forms of interaction. The software visualizes and represents the data emulating physical characteristics that align with tactile expectations of the user.

Invisible Threads is a mixed reality performance installation created by Eyebeam artists Jeff Crouse and Stephanie Rothenberg. The project explores the growing intersection between labor, emerging virtual economies and real life commodities through the creation of a designer jeans sweatshop in the metaverse Second Life (SL). Simulating a real life manufacturing facility that includes hiring SL “workers” to produce real world jeans sold for profit, the project provides an insider’s view into current modes of global, telematic production.